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Transcript of Appreciative Heart
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The Appreciative Heart
Rollin McCraty, Ph.D.HeartMath Research Center, Institute of HeartMath
Doc ChildreQuantum Intech
The Psychophysiology ofPositive Emotions and Optimal Functioning
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Copyright 2002 Institute of HeartMath
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Published in the United States of America by:
Institute of HeartMath
14700 West Park Ave., Boulder Creek, California 95006
831-338-8500
http://www.heartmath.org
HeartMath Research Center, Institute of HeartMath, Publication No. 02-026.
Boulder Creek, CA, 2002.
Cover design by Sandy Royall
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The Appreciative Heart:The Psychophysiology of Positive Emotions and Optimal Functioning
Rollin McCraty and Doc Childre
In daily lie, sometimes people use the word appreciation and sometimes the word
gratitude without much thought about which is most appropriate. Use whichever word
that means the most to you, based on your culture, upbringing, or personal preerence,
because its the heart eeling behind the word and intent that counts. I youre coming
rom your heart, whether you describe it as gratitude or appreciation, it represents the
same spark o spirit and care and has the same eectiveness. In the research lab, whether
youre radiating appreciation or gratitude, it creates the same coherence and benets to
yoursel and your environment.
Doc Childre
Throughout history and across diverse cul-tures, religions, and spiritual traditions, the heart
has been associated with spiritual infux, wisdom,
and emotional experience, particularly with re-
gard to other-centered, positive emotions such as
love, care, compassion, and appreciation. Current
research provides evidence that the heart does
indeed play a role in the generation o emotional
experience, suggesting that these long-surviving
associations may be more than merely metaphori-
cal. In this paper, we discuss a model o emotion
that includes the heart, together with the brain,nervous, and hormonal systems, as undamental
components o a dynamic, interactive network rom
which emotional experience emerges. Further, we
review research that has identied new physiological
correlates associated with the experience o heartelt
positive emotions, with a specic ocus on apprecia-
tion. We then describe several heart-based positive
emotion-ocused techniques designed to help people
sel-induce and sustain states o appreciation and
gratitude as well as other positive emotions. Finally,
HeartMath Research Center, Institute of HeartMath, Publication No.02-026. Boulder Creek, CA, 2002.
An abbreviated version of this paper is published as chapter inThe Psychology of Gratitude, edited by Robert A. Emmons andMichael E. McCullough. New York: Oxford University Press, in press(Summer 2003 release).
Address for correspondence: Rollin McCraty, Ph.D., HeartMathResearch Center, Institute of HeartMath, 14700 West Park Avenue,Boulder Creek, CA 95006. Phone: 831.338.8500, Fax: 831.338.1182,Email: [email protected]. Institute of HeartMath web site: www.heartmath.org.
we summarize the outcomes o several studies inwhich these techniques have been introduced in
organizational, educational, and clinical settings.
Denition of Terms
In recent years, increasing research has o-
cused on exploring the psychology o positive emo-
tions. A large part o that attention has been devoted
to the emotion o gratitude.1 Appreciation, which
will be discussed in this paper, is related to gratitude,
and orms an important aspect o our emotional
landscape.
McCullough, Kilpatrick, Emmons, and Lar-
son describe gratitude as a elt sense o wonder,
thankulness and appreciation or lie. It can be ex-
pressed to others, as well as to impersonal (nature)
or nonhuman sources (God, animals, the cosmos)2
(p. 377). They conceptualize gratitude as an aect
which guides peoples cognitions and behaviors in
the moral domain,1
Common dictionary denitions o apprecia-
tion include the act o estimating the qualities o
things according to their true worth; grateulrecognition; sensitive awareness or enjoyment [o
something/some-one]; and an increase in value.
Cooperrider and Whitney dene appreciation as:
valuingthe act o recognizing the best in people
or the world around us. To perceive those things
that give lie (health, vitality, excellence) to living
systems3 (p. 4). Paddison oers the ollowing deni-
tion: Appreciation means to be thankul and express
admiration, approval or gratitude4 (p. 231). She
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also expands on the idea o appreciation as increas-
ing in value and suggests that as one expresses more
appreciation, one literally grows in value to both
onesel and others. In the context o this paper, when
we reer to appreciation we denote an active eeling
o thankulness, which has an energetic quality that
uplits ones energy and spirit.
Positive Emotions and Optimal Functioning
You eel a deep sense o peace and inter-nal balanceyou are at harmony withyoursel, with others, and with your larger
environment. You experience increased
buoyancy and vitality. Your senses are
enlivenedevery aspect o your perceptual
experience seems richer, more textured.
Surprisingly, you eel invigorated evenwhen you would usually have elt tired and
drained. Things that usually would have
irked you just dont get to you as much.
Your body eels regeneratedyour mind
clear. At least or a period o time, decisions
become obvious as priorities clariy and
inner conict dissolves. Intuitive insight
suddenly provides convenient solutions to
problems that had previously consumed
weeks o restless thought. Your creativity
ows reely. You may experience a senseo greater connectedness with others and
eelings o deep ulfllment.
Most people have at some point in their lives
experienced a state similar to that described above.
In many cases, individuals report that such magi-
cal moments, sometimes described as periods o
increased fow,5 are accompanied by the experi-
ence o a heartelt positive emotion. Perhaps it was
the eeling o being in love, eelings o gratitude or
anothers kindness, appreciation or the majesty onature, or a sense o ulllment spurred by ones own
accomplishments.
For centuries, religious scholars, artists, scien-
tists, medical practitioners, and lay authors alike have
written about the transormative power o positive
emotions. However, until recently, scientic explora-
tion o these experiences has been largely lacking.
Presently, a growing body o research is beginning
to provide objective evidence that positive emotions
may indeed be key to optimal unctioning, enhancing
nearly all spheres o human experience. Positive emo-
tions have been demonstrated to improve health and
increase longevity,6-9 increase cognitive fexibility and
creativity,10, 11 acilitate broad-minded coping and
innovative problem solving,12-14 and promote helpul-
ness, generosity, and eective cooperation.15
Over the past ten years, our research group
has ocused on exploring how and why positive
emotions improve health and perormance and,
specically, on uncovering physiological correlates
o positive emotional states that may help explain
these observations. In recent years, our research has
concentrated on elucidating emotion-related changes
in the patterns o the hearts rhythmic activity and
on understanding how heart-brain interactions aect
physiological, cognitive, and emotional processes.
The Hearts Role in Emotion
Throughout the 1990s, the view that the brain
and body work in conjunction in order or percep-
tions, thoughts, and emotions to emerge has gained
momentum and is now widely accepted. The brain
is an analog processor that relates whole concepts to
one another and looks or similarities, dierences, or
relationships between them. It is nothing like a digital
computer, in that it does not assemble thoughts and
eelings rom bits o data. This new understanding ohow the brain unctions has challenged several long-
standing assumptions about emotions. For example,
psychologists once maintained that emotions were
purely mental expressions generated by the brain
alone. We now know that this is not trueemotions
have as much to do with the body as they do with the
brain. Furthermore, o the bodily organs, the heart
plays a particularly important role in the emotional
system. Emotions are thus a product o the brain,
heart, and body acting in concert.
Recent work in the relatively new eld o neu-rocardiology has rmly established that the heart
is a sensory organ and a sophisticated inormation
encoding and processing center, with an extensive
intrinsic nervous system suciently sophisticated
to qualiy as a heart brain. Its circuitry enables it
to learn, remember, and make unctional decisions
independent o the cranial brain.16 Moreover, numer-
ous experiments have demonstrated that patterns o
cardiac aerent neurological input to the brain not
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Figure 1. Emotions are reected in our heart rhythmpatterns.Real-time heart rate variability (heart rhythm) pattern of anindividual making an intentional shift from a self-induced stateof frustration to a genuine feeling of appreciation by usingthe Freeze-Frame positive emotion refocusing technique. It isof note that when the recording is analyzed statistically, the
amount of heart rate variability is found to remain virtuallythe same during the two different emotional states; however,the pattern of the heart rhythm changes distinctly. Note theimmediate shift from an erratic, disordered heart rhythm
pattern associated with frustration to a smooth, harmonious,sine wave-like (coherent) pattern as the individual uses the
positive emotion refocusing technique and self-generates aheartfelt feeling of appreciation.
only aect autonomic regulatory centers, but also
infuence higher brain centers involved in perception
and emotional processing.17-19
One tool that has proven valuable in examin-
ing heart-brain interactions is heart rate variability
analysis. Heart rate variability (HRV), derived romthe electrocardiogram (ECG), is a measure o the
naturally occurring beat-to-beat changes in heart
rate. The analysis o HRV, or heart rhythms, provides
a powerul, noninvasive measure o neurocardiac
unction that refects heart-brain interactions and
autonomic nervous system dynamics, which are par-
ticularly sensitive to changes in emotional states.20, 21
Our research, together with that o others, suggests
that there is an important link between emotions and
changes in the patterns o both eerent (descending)
and aerent (ascending) autonomic activity.19, 20, 22-25
These changes in autonomic activity lead to dramatic
changes in the patterno the hearts rhythm, oten
without any change in the amounto heart rate vari-
ability. Specically, we have ound that during the
experience o emotions such as anger, rustration, or
anxiety, heart rhythms become more erratic and dis-
ordered, indicating less synchronization in the recip-
rocal action that ensues between the parasympathetic
and sympathetic branches o the autonomic nervous
system (ANS).20, 22 In contrast, sustained positive emo-
tions, such as appreciation, love, or compassion, are
associated with highly ordered or coherentpatterns inthe heart rhythms, refecting greater synchronization
between the two branches o the ANS, and a shit in
autonomic balance toward increased parasympathetic
activity (Figure 1).20, 22, 23, 26
In addition to understanding how complex ANS
activity patterns correlate with diering emotions,
we are beginning to understand the role played by a-
erent neural signals, which fow rom the heart and
body to the brain, in the generation and experience o
eelings and emotions. A substantial body o research
has explored the infuence o aerent signals rom theheart and cardiovascular system on brain unction.
This research dates back to 1929 when it was ound
that stimulation o the vagus nerve inhibited motor
activity and prolonged sleep.27 Among the rst mod-
ern psychophysiological researchers to systematically
examine the conversations between the heart and
brain were John and Beatrice Lacey.28 During twenty
years o research throughout the 1960s and 1970s,
they observed that aerent input rom the heart
and cardiovascular system could signicantly aect
perceptionand behavior. Their research produced a
body o behavioral and neurophysiological evidence
indicating that sensory-motor integration could be
modied by cardiovascular activity.29-33 One line o
their research established relationships between
the hearts aerent signals and reaction times. For
example, they showed that decreasing heart rate in
the anticipatory period o reaction time experiments
quickens reaction times, while increasing heart rate
slows reaction times.33, 34 The Laceys introduced the
terms cortical inhibition and cortical acilitation
to describe these eects. Since that time, extensive
experimental data have been gathered documenting
the role played by aerent input rom the heart in
modulating such varied processes as pain perception,35hormone production,36 electrocortical activity, and
cognitive unctions.17, 28, 37, 38
This research, however, did not generally
consider the role o emotion or how patterns o a-
erent input aect emotionalprocesses. Our research
ndings have led us to support a systems-oriented
model o emotion that includes the heart, brain, and
the nervous and hormonal systems as undamental
components o a dynamic, interactive network that
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underlies the emergence o emotional experience.19
The model builds on the theory o emotion rst pro-
posed by Pribram,39 in which the brain unctions as a
complex pattern identication and matching system.
In this model, past experience builds within us a set
o amiliar patterns, which are maintained in the
neural architecture. Inputs to the brain rom both
the external and internal environments contribute to
the maintenance o these patterns. Within the body,
many processes provide constant rhythmic inputs
with which the brain becomes amiliar. These include
the hearts rhythmic activity; digestive, respiratory
and hormonal rhythms; and patterns o muscular
tension, particularly acial expressions. These inputs
are continuously monitored by the brain and help
organize perception, eelings, and behavior. Recur-
ring input patterns orm a stable backdrop, or reer-
ence pattern, against which current experiences arecompared. According to this model, when an input
pattern is suciently dierent rom the amiliar re-
erence pattern, this mismatch or departure rom
the amiliarunderlies the generation o eelings and
emotions.
When the input to the brain does not match
the existing program, an adjustment must be made
in an attempt to achieve control and return to stabil-
ity. One way to reestablish control is by taking an
outward action. We are motivated to eat i we eel
hungry, run away or ght i threatened, do somethingto draw attention to ourselves i eeling ignored, etc.
Alternatively, we can reestablish stability and gain
control by making an internal adjustment (without
any overt action). For example, a conrontation at
work may lead to eelings o anger, which can prompt
inappropriate behavior (e.g., outward actions such
as yelling, hitting, etc.). However, through internal
adjustments, we can sel-manageour eelings in or-
der to inhibit these responses, reestablish stability,
and maintain our jobs. Ultimately, when we achieve
stability through our eorts, the results are eelingso satisaction and gratication. By contrast, when
there is a ailure to achieve stability or control, eel-
ings such as anxiety, panic, annoyance, apprehension,
hopelessness, or depression result.
This model distinguishes two sets o emotions:
those that refect current order in the neurophysi-
ological systems and those that refect expectation
o uture order. Emotionsthe signals o perturba-
tion and its cessation, and o the initiation o pro-
cesses necessary to reestablish controlcan thus
be divided into the concurrent and the prospec-
tive. The concurrent refects the degree o match
or mismatch between the current inputs and the
reerence pattern in the here-and-now.39 Mismatch
is refected as arousal, while the achievement o
regaining a match or control is characterized by
gratication. The prospective aects can be divided
into optimistic or pessimistic. Inputs to the neural
system are appraised and compared to memories
o past outcomes associated with similar inputs or
situations. I the historical outcomes o similar situ-
ations are positive, an optimistic aect (e.g., inter-
est, condence, or hope) will result. On the other
hand, i the memory o past outcomes has led to the
expectation o ailure to achieve control, the cur-
rent inputs are accompanied by pessimistic eelings
regarding the uture (e.g., annoyance, apprehension,hopelessness, or depression). It is through practice
and experience with outcomes that inputs become
appraised as relevant or irrelevant, hopeul or hope-
less. As we encounter new situations, experience new
inputs, and learn how to gain or maintain control,
we expand our repertoire o successul outcomes.
The more repertoires available, the more likely a
new input will be assessed as optimistic with a high
probability o success in maintaining control. It is
the organization o sequences o input patterns and
behaviors into hierarchically arranged programs thatgives a person fexibility and adaptability.
Once a stable baseline pattern or program is
established, the neural systems attempt to maintain
a match between the set program, current inputs,
and uture behaviors. I the baseline pattern becomes
maladapted, the system will still strive to maintain
a match to that pattern, even though it is not in
our best interest. There are many examples o mal-
adapted patterns. For example, i a child grows up in
chaotic surroundings, chaos will become amiliar, and
thereore comortable. The child will then automati-cally take actions that create various orms o chaos
in his or her lie in order to maintain a match with
the internal program and thus eel comortable. An-
other example o maladaptation is when people adapt
to conveniences (e.g., something is usually done or
them, they always get what they want, etc.). These
conveniences can then become expectanciesand be-
come taken or granted rather than truly appreciated.
Thus, when a situation occurs where individuals do
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not get what they want or expect, a mismatch occurs
and they experience emotional dissonance.
Monitoring the alterations in the rates,
rhythms, and patterns o aerent trac is a key
unction o the cortical and emotional systems in the
brain. Thus, input originating rom many dierentbodily organs and systems is ultimately involved in
determining our emotional experience. However,
the heart, as a primary and consistent generator
o rhythmic inormation patterns in the human
body, and possessing a ar more extensive aer-
ent communication system with the brain than do
other major organs, plays a particularly important
role in this process.19 With each beat, the heart not
only pumps blood, but also continually transmits
dynamic patterns o neurological, hormonal, pres-
sure, and electromagnetic inormation to the brain
and throughout the body. Thereore, cardiovascular
aerent signals are a major contributor in establish-
ing the dynamics o the baseline pattern or set point
against which the now is compared. At lower brain
levels, the hearts input is compared to reerences
or set points that control blood pressure, aect
respiration rate, and gate the fow o activity in the
descending branches o the autonomic system.40
From there, these signals cascade up to a number
o subcortical or limbic areas that are involved in
the processing o emotion.37, 41
Several lines o research support the perspec-
tive that cardiac aerent input exerts an important
inluence on central emotional processing. For
example, validation comes rom studies that have
investigated the eects o aerent input on the
amygdaloid complexthe amygdala and associated
nuclei, which play a pivotal role in storing and pro-
cessing emotional memory and in attaching emo-
tional signicance to sensory stimuli. Studies have
shown that neural activity in the central nucleus o
the amygdala is synchronized to the cardiac cycle
and is modulated by cardiovascular aerent input.18,42 The importance o changes in the pattern o
cardiac aerent signals is urther illustrated by the
nding that psychological aspects o panic disorder
are requently created by unrecognized paroxysmal
supraventricular tachycardia (a sudden-onset cardiac
arrhythmia). One study ound that DSM-IV criteria
or panic disorder were ullled in more than two-
thirds o patients with these sudden-onset arrhyth-
mias. In the majority o cases, once the arrhythmia
was discovered and treated, the symptoms o panic
disorder disappeared.43 These arrhythmias generate
a large and sudden change in the pattern o aer-
ent signals sent to the brain, which is detected as a
mismatch. This mismatch consequently results in
eelings o anxiety and panic.
It is interesting to note that when one plots
the heart rhythms generated by this type o ar-
rhythmia, they look quite similar to the incoherent
heart rhythm patterns produced by strong eelings
o anxiety in an otherwise healthy individual. By
contrast, coherent heart rhythm patterns, which
are associated with sincere positive emotions, are
amiliar to most brains and evoke eelings o security
and well-being. I this is the case, then interventions
capable o shiting the pattern o the hearts rhythmic
activity should modiy ones emotional state. In act,
people commonly use just such an intervention
simply altering their breathing rhythm by taking sev-
eral slow, deep breaths. Most people do not realize,
however, that the reason breathing techniques are
eective in helping to shit ones emotional state is
because changing ones breathing rhythm modulates
the hearts rhythmic activity. The modulation o the
hearts rhythm by respiratory activity is reerred to
as respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA).44 Later in this
paper, we describe other, heart-ocused interventions
that also acilitate emotional shits by generating
changes in the hearts rhythmic patterns.
Physiological Correlates of Heartfelt Positive Emotions
Physiological coherenceOur research in emotional physiology has
identied distinct physiological correlates o heart-
elt positive emotional states. We have introduced
the term physiological coherence to describe a
unctional mode encompassing a number o related
physiological phenomena that are requently associ-
ated with eelings o appreciation.
The term coherencehas several related de-
nitions, all o which are applicable to the study o
emotional physiology. A common denition o the
term is the quality o being logically integrated, con-
sistent, and intelligible, as in a coherent argument.
In this context, thoughts and emotional states can be
considered coherent or incoherent. Importantly,
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however, these associations are not merely meta-
phorical, as dierent emotions are in act associated
with dierent degrees o coherence in the oscillatory
rhythms generated by the bodys various systems.
This leads us to the denitions o the term
coherence ound in physics, where it is used todescribe the ordered or constructive distribution o
power within a wave. The more stable the requency
and shape o the waveorm, the higher the coherence.
An example o a coherent wave is the sine wave.
The term autocoherenceis used to denote this kind
o coherence. In physiological systems, this type o
coherence describes the degree o order and stability
in the rhythmic activity generated by a single oscilla-
tory system. Methodology or computing coherence
has been published elsewhere.20
Coherence also describes two or more waves
that are either phase- or requency-locked. A com-
mon example is the laser, in which multiple waves
phase-lock together, producing a coherent energy
wave. In physiology, coherence is used to describe a
unctional mode in which two or more o the bodys
oscillatory systems, such as respiration and heart
rhythms, become entrained and oscillate at the
same requency. The term cross-coherenceis used
to speciy this type o coherence.
Interestingly, all the above denitions apply to
the study o emotional physiology. We have ound that
sincere positive emotions such as appreciation are
associated with a higher degree o coherence within
the hearts rhythmic activity (autocoherence). Ad-
ditionally, during such states there also tends to be
increased coherence betweendierent physiological
oscillatory systems (cross-coherence/entrainment).20,
22 Typically, entrainment is observed between heart
rhythms, respiratory rhythms, and blood pressure
oscillations; however, other biological oscillators,
including very low requency brain rhythms, cran-
iosacral rhythms, electrical potentials measured
across the skin, and, most likely, rhythms in thedigestive system, can also become entrained.45
A related phenomenon that can also occur
during physiological coherence is resonance. In phys-
ics, resonance reers to a phenomenon whereby an
abnormally large vibration is produced in a system
in response to a stimulus whose requency is the
same as, or nearly the same as, the natural vibra-
tory requency o the system. The requency o the
vibration produced in such a state is said to be the
resonant requencyo the system. When the human
system is operating in the coherent mode, increased
synchronization occurs between the sympathetic and
parasympathetic branches o the ANS, and entrain-
ment between the heart rhythms, respiration, and
blood pressure oscillations is also observed. This
occurs because these oscillatory subsystems are all
vibrating at the resonant requency o the system
(~0.1 hertz). Thus, in the coherent mode, the power
spectrum o the heart rhythm displays an unusually
large peak around 0.1 hertz (see Figure 2).
Most models show that the resonant requency
o the human cardiovascular system is determined by
the eedback loops between the heart and brain.46, 47 In
humans and in many animals, the resonant requency
o the system is 0.1 hertz, which is equivalent to a
10-second rhythm. The system especially vibrates at
its resonant requency when an individual is actively
eeling appreciation or some other positive emotion,22
although resonance can also emerge during states o
sleep and deep relaxation. In terms o physiological
unctioning, resonance coners a number o benets
to the system. For example, there is increased car-
diac output in conjunction with increased eciency
in fuid exchange, ltration, and absorption between
the capillaries and tissues; increased ability o the
cardiovascular system to adapt to circulatory require-
ments; and increased temporal synchronization o
cells throughout the body.48, 49 This results in increasedsystem-wide energy eciency and metabolic energy
savings. These ndings provide a link between posi-
tive emotions and increased physiological eciency,
which may partly explain the growing number o
correlations documented between positive emotions,
improved health, and increased longevity. In addition,
there are data suggesting that this more ecient unc-
tional mode also improves the cognitive processing o
sensory inormation.45, 50
Appreciation, heart-brain synchronization, andcognitive performance
In addition to the phenomena discussed above,
physiological coherence is also associated with
increased synchronization between the heartbeat
and alpha rhythms in the electroencephalogram
(EEG). In experiments measuring heartbeat-evoked
potentials, we ound that the brains alpha wave
activity (8-12 hertz requency range) is naturally
synchronized to the cardiac cycle. However, when
subjects used a positive emotion-ocused technique
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Figure 2. Heart rhythm patterns during different psychophysiological states.
Heart rate tachograms, showing beat-to beat changes in heart rate, (left) and heart rate variability power spectra (right) typical of differentemotional/psychophysiological states. Anger (top) is characterized by a lower frequency, disordered heart rhythm pattern and increasing meanheart rate. As can be seen in the power spectrum, the rhythm is primarily in the very low frequency band, which is associated with sympatheticnervous system activity. Relaxation (center) results in a higher frequency, lower-amplitude rhythm, indicating reduced autonomic outow. In thiscase, increased power in the high frequency band of the power spectrum is observed, reecting increased parasympathetic activity (the relaxationresponse). In contrast, sustained positive emotions such as appreciation (bottom) are associated with a highly ordered, smooth, sine wave-likeheart rhythm pattern (coherence). As can be seen in the power spectrum, this physiological mode is associated with a large, narrow peak in thelow frequency band centered around 0.1 Hz. This indicates system-wide resonance, increased synchronization between the sympathetic and
parasympathetic branches of the nervous system, and entrainment between the heart rhythm pattern, respiration, and blood pressure rhythms.The coherent mode is also associated with increased parasympathetic activity, thus encompassing a key element of the relaxation response,yet it is physiologically distinct from relaxation because the system is oscillating at its resonant frequency and there is increased harmony andsynchronization in nervous system and heart-brain dynamics. In addition, the coherent mode does not necessarily involve a lowering of heartrateper se, or a change in the amount of variability, but rather, a change in heart rhythm pattern. Also note the scale difference in the amplitudeof the spectral peak during the coherent mode.
to sel-induce a eeling o appreciation, their heart
rhythm coherence signicantly increased, as did the
ratio o the alpha rhythm that was synchronized to
the heart.45, 50 In another study in which subjects
sel-generated eelings o appreciation while listening
to music designed to oster positive emotions,51 we
ound that the percentage o alpha-ECG synchroni-
zation signicantly increased in the let hemisphere
centered around the temporal lobe. Figure 3 shows
the group mean topographical maps o the percent-
age o alpha activity that was synchronized to the
heartbeat across dierent conditions. These plots
are controlled or total amount o alpha activity and
indicate only changes in synchronized activity rom
a resting baseline to actively eeling appreciation. As
can be seen in the gure, the main brain areas that
are synchronized to the heart shit rom the right
rontal area during the baseline period (the lighter the
color, the more synchronized) to the let hemisphere
centered around the temporal area and radiating
outward rom there during appreciation.
These observations may be related to ndings
indicating that increased let hemisphere activity is
associated with happiness and euphoria while in-
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Figure 3. Alpha activity synchronized to the cardiac cycle.Group mean topographical maps for 30 subjects, showing the percentage of alpha activity in different regions of the brain that is synchronizedto the heartbeat during a resting baseline as compared to during actively feeling appreciation. The plots are controlled for total amount ofalpha activity (which did not change signicantly) and show only the amount of synchronized activity. As can be seen in the plots, the areaswith the highest degree of synchronization shift from the right frontal area during the baseline period (lighter colors indicate higher levels ofsynchronization) to the left hemisphere centered around the temporal area and radiating outward from there during appreciation. This changewas most pronounced at EEG site T3, although activity at adjacent sites was also signicantly more synchronized to the heart.
creased right hemisphere activity is associated with
depression and negative aect.52, 53 It is clear that
both the right and let hemispheres are involved in
the processing and regulation o emotion; however,
there is still a lack o clarity regarding the roles o
hemispheres and how they interact in the emergence
and perception o emotional experience.
In related experiments, we ound that increased
heart rhythm coherence correlates with signicant
improvements in cognitive perormance in auditory
discrimination tasks, which require subjects to ocus
and pay attention, discriminate subtle tone dier-
ences, and react quickly and accurately. Not only
did increases in heart rhythm coherence accompany
increased cognitive perormance, but also the de-
gree o coherence correlated with task perormance
across all subjects during all tasks. The control group,
which had a relaxation period in place o the positive
emotion sel-induction task, showed no signicant
increase in heart rhythm coherence or improvements
in cognitive perormance.45, 50
These observations directly support the
concept that the patternocardiac aerent input
reaching the brain can inhibit or acilitate cortical
unction signicantly beyond the micro-rhythm o
inhibition/acilitation associated with simple changes
in heart rate that was rst documented by the Laceys.
Thus, these ndings provide a potential physiologi-
cal link between appreciation and improvements in
aculties such as motor skills, ocused attention, and
discrimination.
In summary, we use the term coherence to
describe a physiological mode that encompasses en-
trainment, resonance, and synchronizationdistinct
but related phenomena, all o which emerge rom the
harmonious interactions o the bodys subsystems.
Correlates o physiological coherence include: in-
creased synchronization between the two branches
o the ANS, a shit in autonomic balance toward
increased parasympathetic activity, increased heart-
brain synchronization, increased vascular resonance,
and entrainment between diverse physiological oscil-
latory systems. The coherent mode is refected by a
smooth, sine wave-like pattern in the heart rhythms
(heart rhythm coherence) and a narrow-band, high-
amplitude peak in the low requency range o the HRV
power spectrum, at a requency o about 0.1 hertz.
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Drivers of physiological coherenceAlthough physiological coherence is a natu-
ral state that can occur spontaneously, sustained
episodes are generally rare. While specic rhyth-
mic breathing methods can induce coherence and
entrainment or brie periods, cognitively-directed, paced breathing is diicult or many people to
maintain. On the other hand, our ndings indicate
that individuals can produce extended periods o
physiological coherence by actively generating and
sustaining a eeling o appreciation. Sincere eelings
o appreciation appear to excite the system at its
resonant requency, allowing the coherent mode to
emerge naturally. This typically makes it easier or
people to sustain a positive emotion or much longer
periods, thus acilitating the process o establish-
ing and reinorcing coherent patterns in the neural
architecture as the amiliar reerence. Once a new
pattern is established, the brain strives to maintain
a match with the new program, thus increasing the
probability o having an optimistic outlook and main-
taining emotional stability, even during challenging
situations.
Consciously generating eelings o love and
appreciation while pretending to breathe through
the area o the heart appears to coner a ar wider
range o benets than simply orcing the system
into coherence using breathing techniques alone. In
order to distinguish between physiological coherence
that naturally emerges as a result o positive emotions
exciting the system at its resonant requency, and
coherence that is induced by cognitively-driven ap-
proaches (e.g., paced breathing), we have introduced
the term psychophysiological coherenceto denote
emotionally-driven coherence.45
During states o psychophysiological coher-
ence, bodily systems unction with a high degree o
synchronization, eciency, and harmony, and the
bodys natural regenerative processes appear to be
acilitated. Psychologically, this mode is associated
with improved cognitive perormance, increased
emotional stability, and enhanced psychosocial
unctioning and quality o lie. Additionally, many
people report experiencing a notable reduction in
inner mental dialogue along with eelings o increased
peace, sel-security, and sustained positive emotions
ater practicing maintaining this mode even or short
periods such as a ew days or weeks.20, 23, 26, 45
Emotional Management: The Missing Dimension
Throughout the ages, in every culture, and
in countless dierent ways, we have been exhorted
repeatedly with the same undamental message: to
love one another, to have care and compassion orour ellow human beings, and to live in apprecia-
tion o lies gits. Yet, in our view, genuine positive
emotions and attitudes are not as prevalent in most
peoples lives as one might presume. Such states,
along with their numerous benets, remain, or the
most part, mental concepts, which are transient
and unpredictable experiences in the majority o
peoples lives. They are too oten dependent on the
arrangements o external events, rather than being
undamental traits. For example, people may nd it
relatively easy to genuinely experience eelings suchas happiness, buoyancy, or appreciation during lies
highsspecial occasions or events that requently
involve a high degree o sensory stimulation; how-
ever, people rarely sustain such regenerative eelings
as a norm in the midst o their ordinary day-to-day
lives. At the other end o the spectrum, there are
many examples in which a tragedy or crisis elicits
eelings and actions o care, compassion, and un-
precedented cooperation among members o a amily
community, or organizationonly or people to all
back into old patterns o separation, judgment, and
sel-centered thought and action some time ater the
event has passed.
Although most people intuitively know that
theyeelbest and operate more eciently and e-
ectively when experiencing positive emotions, why
is it that they do not more consistently engage such
states in their day-to-day lives? Why do genuine
positive emotional experiences remain transient
and unpredictable occurrences or most people? We
propose that a main actor underlying this discrep-
ancy is a undamental lack o mental and emotional
sel-management skills. In other words, people gener-
ally do not make eorts to actively inuse their daily
experiences with greater emotional quality because
they sincerely do not know how.
Despite our best intentions, the human nega-
tivity biasthe natural tendency to ocus on inputs
(including thoughts and emotions) perceived as
negative to a greater extent than neutral or positive
stimuliis a very real phenomenon with a sound
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neurophysiological basis.54 Although most people
denitively claim that they love, care, and appreciate,
it might shock many to realize the large degree to
which these eelings are merely assumed or acknowl-
edged cognitively, ar more than they are actually
experienced in their eeling world. In the absence o
conscious eortsto engage, build, and sustain posi-
tive perceptions and emotions, we all too automati-
cally all prey to eelings o irritation, anxiety, worry,
rustration, judgmentalness, sel-doubt, and blame.
As negative eelings are repeatedly rehashed, these
patterns reinorce their amiliarity in the neural ar-
chitecture, thus becoming stereotyped and increas-
ingly automatic and mechanical. Many people do not
realize the extent to which these habitual response
patterns dominate their internal landscape, dilut-
ing and limiting positive emotional experience, and
eventually becoming so amiliar that they becomeengrained in their sense o sel-identity.
Unmanaged negative mental, and, particularly,
emotional processing drains vital energy rom our
psychological energy reserves, which we call the
emotional energy accumulators. Emotional energy
or buoyancy is important or smooth mental process-
es. When our energy accumulators are drained, this
leads to unregulated nervous system activity, which
decreases clarity and our ability to make accurate
assessments and quick, eective decisions. This, in
turn, oten serves to perpetuate the cycle o stressand disturbed eelings. In essence, the inner noise
generated rom unmanaged mental and emotional
processes consumes our energy and keeps us rom
unctioning to our ull potential.
Various stress management practices have
been developed to help people manage their emo-
tions in order to reduce these energy drains. The
majority o these approaches are based on a cogni-
tive model in which all emotions ollow a cognitive
assessment o sensory input, which then leads to a
behavioral response. Thereore, these approachesrely on strategies that engage or restructure cognitive
processes. The basic theoretical ramework is that
i emotions always ollow thought, then by chang-
ing ones thoughts, one can gain control over the
emotions. However, in the last decade, research in
the neurosciences has made it quite clear that emo-
tional processes operate at a much higher speed than
thoughts, and requently bypass the minds linear
reasoning process entirely.55 In other words, not all
emotions ollow thoughts; many (and in act most in
certain contexts) occur independently o the cogni-
tive systems and can signicantly bias or color the
cognitive process and its output or decision.55, 56
This is why strategies that encourage positive
thinkingwithout also engaging positive
eelings
may requently provide only temporary, i any, relie
rom emotional distress. While a conceptual shit may
occur (which is important), the undamental source
o the emotional stress (a maladapted reerence
program) remains largely intact. This has signicant
implications or emotion regulation interventions
and suggests that intervening at the level o the emo-
tional system may in many cases be a more direct
and ecient way to override and transorm historical
patterns underlying maladaptive thoughts, eelings,
and behaviors and instill more positive emotions and
prosocial behaviors.
Tools and Techniques to Promote Positive Emotionsand Physiological Coherence
The recent Positive Psychology movement
has emphasized the importance o encouraging not
only the reduction o negative emotions, but also the
cultivation o positive emotions in daily lie.57 Yet, psy-
chology has seen a notable scarcity o interventions
that ocus directly and systematically on increasing
positive emotional experiences. Recognizing thisneed many years ago, one o us (D.C.) undertook
the development o practical, heart-based positive
emotion-ocused tools and techniques, which are
designed to acilitate the sel-regulation o emotions.4,
58-63 Collectively known as the HeartMathsystem,
these techniques utilize the heart as a point o entry
into the psychophysiological networks that underlie
emotional experience.58, 63 The model o emotion we
briefy summarized earlier emphasizes the central
role played by cardiac aerent signals in emotional
perception and experience. In essence, because theheart is a primary generator o rhythmic patterns in
the bodyinfuencing brain processes that control
the ANS, cognitive unction, and emotionit provides
an access point rom which system-wide dynamics
can be quickly and prooundly aected.45
In brie, HeartMath techniques combine a
shit in the ocus o attention to the area around the
heart (where many people subjectively eel positive
emotions) with the intentional sel-induction o a
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sincere positive emotional state, such as apprecia-
tion. We have ound that appreciation is one o the
most concrete and easiest o the positive emotions
or individuals to sel-induce and sustain or longer
periods.
Such a shit in ocus and eeling serves to in-crease heart rhythm coherence, which results in a
change in the pattern o aerent cardiac input sent
to the cognitive and emotional centers in the brain.
This coupling o a more organized aerent pattern
with an intentionally sel-generated eeling o appre-
ciation reinorces the natural conditioned response
between the physiological state and the positive
emotion. This subsequently strengthens the ability
o a positive eeling shit to initiate a physiological
shit towards increased coherence, or a physiological
shit to acilitate the experience o a positive emotion.
Once this association is rmly conditioned, simply
pretending to breathe through the area o the heart,
during a challenging situation where it may be hard
to sel-induce a positive emotion, can oten acilitate
an emotional shit.
Positive emotion-ocused techniques can thus
enable individuals to eectively replace stressul
thought patterns and eelings with more positive per-
ceptions and emotions in the momentwhen they are
needed most. In turn, this requently leads to more
eective communication, improved decision making,
and greater creativity and resourceulness in problem
solving. However, there are also benets that extend
beyond reducing stress and negative emotions in the
present moment. Learning to sel-generate positive
emotions with increasing consistency can give rise
to long-term improvements in emotion regulation
abilities, attitudes, and relationships that aect many
aspects o ones lie.
In keeping with our model o emotion, we
suggest that these enduring benets stem rom the
act that as people experience appreciation and its
consequent physiological coherence with increasingconsistency, the coherent patterns become ever more
amiliar to the brain. Thus, these patterns become
established in the neural architecture as a new,
stable baseline or norm, which serves as a set point
or rame o reerence that the system then strives
to maintain. Thereore, when stress or emotional
instability is subsequently experienced, the amiliar
coherent, stable state is more readily accessible, en-
abling a quicker and more enduring emotional shit.
Even brie periods o coherence can stabilize nervous
system dynamics, thereby reducing the tendency or
inputs, whether internally or externally generated,
to cause an emotional disturbance. Through this re-
patterning process, positive emotions and coherent
physiological patterns progressively replace maladap-
tive emotional patterns and stressul responses as the
habitual way o being.
HeartMath tools and techniques can be divided
into two basic categories: (1) positive emotion reo-
cusing techniques and (2) emotional restructuring
techniques. Below we describe one example rom
each category: the Freeze-Frame and Heart Lock-In
techniques. These tools are intentionally designed as
simple, easy-to-use interventions that can be adapted
to virtually any culture or age group. They are ree
o religious or cultural bias, and most people eel an
enjoyable emotional shit and experience a broadened
perception the rst time that they use them. Although
most age groups can eectively use the Freeze-Frame
and Heart Lock-In techniques, tools speciically
or children and young adults have also been de-
signed.62, 64, 65 We have also created a number o tools
or use in specic contexts in organizational, educa-
tional, and health care settings.58, 61, 66
Freeze-Frame: A positive emotion refocusing techniqueFreeze-Frame is a positive emotion reocus-ing exercise that enables individuals to intervene
in real time to greatly reduce or prevent the stress
and energy drains created rom inappropriate or
unproductive emotional triggers and reactions.60 The
techniques name is derived rom the concept that
conscious perception works in a way that is analogous
to watching a movie, and perceiving each moment
as an individual perceptual rame. When a scene
becomes stressul, it is possible and helpul to reeze
that perceptual rame and isolate it in time so that it
can be observed rom a more detached and objective
viewpointsimilar to putting a VCR on pause or the
moment. We have ound that the process o deen-
ergizing and disengaging rom distressing thoughts
and emotions can be greatly acilitated by shiting
ones attention to the area around the heart (center
o the chest) and sel-generating aeelingo sincere
appreciation. This process prevents or interrupts the
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bodys normal stress response and acilitates a shit
toward increased physiological coherence (see Figure
1). The resulting change in the pattern o aerent
signals reaching the brains cognitive and emotional
centers reinorces the eeling shit and also acilitates
higher cognitive aculties that are normally compro-
mised during stress and negative emotional states.
This sharpens ones discernment abilities, increases
resourceulness, and oten acilitates a perceptual
shit, which allows problematic issues, interactions,
or decisions to be assessed and dealt with rom a
broader, more emotionally balanced perspective.
The Freeze-Frame technique consists o ve
simple steps, which can be eectively applied in real
time in the midst o a stressul situation or day-to-day
activities (e.g., while driving, sitting in a meeting,
interacting with others, etc.). (See box below.)
The key elements o the technique are: Shit
(to the area o the heart),Activate(a positive eel-
ing), and Sense(what is the best perspective or atti-
tude or this situation). In most training contexts, we
rst lead people through several exercises designed to
aid them in identiying their deepest core values and
the people, places, or events they truly appreciate.
This helps them with Step 3, where they are asked
to sel-generate a eeling o appreciation or other
positive emotion. This shit to a positive emotional
state, or at least to a more neutral eeling, is an im-
portant aspect o the techniques eectiveness. For
those people or whom it may be initially dicult to
sel-generate a eeling o appreciation in the present
moment, it is generally helpul to suggest that they
remember a time or experience in the past when they
elt sincere appreciation and then attempt to reex-
perience that eeling in the present. With practice,
however, most people become able to sel-generate
eelings o appreciation in real time and no longer
need the past time reerence.
As previously stated, the Freeze-Frame tech-
nique is designed to enable individuals to intercede
in real time while stress is being experiencedrather
than try to recuperate ater the act. The benets o
this cannot be overstated. Using Freeze-Frame in the
heat o the moment saves tremendous amounts
o energy that otherwise would have been drained
and oten prevents hours o emotionally-induced
wear and tear on the body and psyche. It can also
reduce the time and energy spent dealing with the
The Steps of Freeze-Frame:1. Take a time-out so that you can temporarily disengage rom your thoughts and
eelingsespecially stressul ones.
2. Shit your ocus o attention to the area around your heartnow eel yourbreath coming in through your heart and out through your solar plexus.
(Practice breathing this way a ew times to ease into the technique).
3. Make a sincere eort to activate a positive eeling.
(This can be a genuine eeling o appreciation or care or someone, some place or something
in your lie.)
4. Ask yoursel what would be an efcient, eective attitude or action that wouldbalance and de-stress your system.
5. Quietly sense any change in perception or eeling and sustain it as longas you can.
(Heart perceptions are oten subtle. They gently suggest eective solutions that would be best
or you and all concerned.)
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consequences o impulsive decisions or emotionally
charged reactions, such as regret, embarrassment,
guilt, accidents, and damaged relationships.
One o the long-term benets to be gained
rom the practice o emotion reocusing techniques
is increased emotional awareness, a undamental stepin the process o improving emotional well-being. In
addition to helping people modiy their responses to
stressul events in the external environment, such
techniques also help individuals identiy and modiy
more subtle internal stressors (i.e., persistent sel-
deeating and energy-depleting thought patterns and
eelings, such as anxiety, ear, hurt, resentment, judg-
mentalism, perectionism, and projections about the
uture). As individuals practice reezing the rame
when eeling inner turmoil, they gain increased
awareness o the habitual mental and emotional pro-
cesses that underlie their stress, and become more
able to catch the onset o these eelings and patterns,
thus diminishing their infuence.
Most individuals nd the Freeze-Frame tech-
nique applicable to a variety o purposes beyond
stress reduction. Additional applications include:
acilitating decision making and problem solving,
increasing mental ocus and clarity, enhancing cre-
ativity, improving work and sports perormance, im-
proving communication eectiveness, and increasing
team coherence. Since the technique takes only a
minute or less to employ, many people report using
it requently throughout the day to clear their men-
tal screen and consciously add a higher quality o
emotional experience to their daily activities.
Heart Lock-In: An emotional restructuring techniqueThe Heart Lock-In58, 59 is an emotional re-
structuring technique, which is generally taught as a
companion tool to Freeze-Frame. The Heart Lock-In
technique ocuses on building the capacity to sustain
heartelt positive emotions and physiological coher-ence or longer periods. I desired, practice o this
technique may also be acilitated by music specically
created to promote emotional balance and augment
the avorable psychological and physiological eects
o positive aective states.67, 68
In essence, the Heart Lock-In technique is
designed to reinorce or lock in the coherent
psychophysiological patterns associated with ap-
preciation and other positive aective states. With
practice, these coherent patterns become increas-
ingly amiliar, thus promoting increased physiological
eciency, mental acuity, and emotional stability as
the new, amiliar baseline or norm. Once this is ac-
complished, the system then attempts to maintain
this state automatically.
At the physiological level, the occurrence o
this repatterning process is supported by elec-
trophysiological evidence demonstrating a greater
requency o spontaneous (without conscious prac-
tice o the intervention) periods o coherence in the
heart rate tachograms o individuals practiced in
the Heart Lock-In technique in comparison to the
general population (unpublished data). To the extent
that the Heart Lock-In helps establish appreciation
and coherence as a amiliar and accessible state, it
becomes easier to eectively apply the Freeze-Frame
tool during stressul or challenging situations.
The key elements o the technique are: Focus
(in the area o the heart),Appreciate, and Radiate
(love and care). In the midst o lies perpetual activ-
ity, the Heart Lock-In oers a simple way to culti-
vate and ampliy heartelt positive eelings and their
nourishing eects on the body and psyche. As with
the Freeze-Frame technique, it is important in the
Heart Lock-In to try and genuinely experience the
eelingo appreciation, as opposed to merely calling
up a mental concept or image. Because o its active
emotional ocus, the Heart Lock-In imparts a state
that is physiologically distinct rom that induced
by most relaxation exercises, whose main aim is to
lower arousal levels. Relaxation is associated with an
increase in parasympathetic activity, but generally
does not produce prolonged periods o physiologi-
cal coherence (see Figure 2). The coherent mode
previously described is also associated with a shit
in autonomic balance toward increased parasympa-
thetic activity, thus encompassing a main element
o the relaxation response, yet it is physiologicallydistinct rom relaxation because, unlike relaxation, it
is also characterized by system-wide resonance and
increased harmony and synchronization in nervous
system and heart-brain dynamics.
The increased physiological coherence gener-
ated in Steps 2 and 3 o the Heart Lock-In technique
reinorces and amplies positive eeling states such
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as appreciation, care, and love. As individuals prac-
tice Step 4, they may imagine themselves gently
emanating these eelings rom the heart area. This
process is typically accompanied by eelings o deep
peaceulness, harmony, and a sense o inner warmth,
and is oten an eective means to diuse accumu-
lated stress and negative eelings. Also, in quieting
mental dialogue through this process, many report
the spontaneous emergence o an intuitive clarity
relative to problems or troublesome issues.
Many people nd it benecial to begin and
end their day with a Heart Lock-In. By using the
technique rst thing in the morning, beore negative
thoughts, worries, projections, or even useul plans
start to engage the mind, one can help set the emo-
tional tone or the day. This practice tends to anchor
eelings o appreciation, buoyancy, and emotional
stability, which increases the probability o carrying
such eelings over into and throughout the day, thus
reducing the likelihood o their being diminished by
daily hassles and stressul events. Likewise, at days
end, using this tool can help one unwind, rebalance,
and let go o worries, concerns, and negative eelings
that have accumulated throughout the day. Focusing
on heartelt eelings o appreciation beore going to
bed at night oten leads to more peaceul and rejuve-
nating sleep and reduces the carry-over o negative
thoughts and emotions into the ollowing day. Thus,
creating a coherent internal environment prepares
the physiological, mental, and emotional systems to
more ully derive the regenerative benets o sleep.
Heart rhythm coherence feedback trainingHeart rhythm eedback training is a powerul
tool to assist people in using positive emotion-ocused
techniques eectively and learning to sel-generate
increased physiological coherence.69 Technologies
have been developed that enable physiological
coherence to be objectively monitored and quanti-
ed. One such device is the Freeze-Framer heart
rhythm-monitoring and coherence-building system
(HeartMath LLC, Boulder Creek, CA). This interac-
tive hardware/sotware system monitors and displays
individuals heart rate variability patterns in realtime as they practice the positive emotion reocusing
and emotional restructuring techniques taught in an
on-line tutorial. Using a ngertip sensor to record
the pulse wave, the Freeze-Framer plots changes in
heart rate on a beat-to-beat basis. As people practice
the techniques, they can readily see and experience
the changes in their heart rhythm patterns, which
generally become more ordered, smoother, and
more sine wave-like as they eel appreciation and
Heart Lock-In Steps:1. Gently shit your attention to the area around your heart.
2. Shit your breathing so that you are breathing in through the heart and outthrough the solar plexus.
3. Activate a genuine eeling o appreciation or care or someone or something inyour lie.
4. Make a sincere eort to sustain eelings o appreciation, care or love whileradiating them to yoursel and others.
5. When you catch your mind wandering, gently ocus your breathing backthrough the heart and solar plexus and reconnect with eelings o care or ap-preciation.
(Ater youve nished, sincerely sustain your eelings o care and appreciation as long as you
can. This will act as a cushion against recurring stress or anxiety.)
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other positive emotions. This process reinorces
the natural association between the physiological
coherence mode and positive eelings. The real-
time physiological eedback also essentially takes
the guesswork and randomness out o the process
o sel-inducing a positive emotional state, resulting
in greater consistency, ocus, and eectiveness in
practicing emotional shits.
The sotware also analyzes the heart rhythm
patterns or coherence level, which is ed back to the
user as an accumulated score or success in playing
one o three on-screen games designed to reinorce
the emotion reocusing skills. Finally, the sotware
includes a multi-user database to store results and
track ones progress.
Because this technology uses a ngertip pulse
sensor and involves no electrode hook-up, it is ex-
tremely versatile, time-ecient, and easy to use in
a wide variety o settings (e.g., workplaces, homes,
schools, etc.). Heart rhythm coherence eedback
training has been successully used in diverse con-
texts by mental health proessionals, physicians, law
enorcement personnel, educators, and corporate ex-
ecutives to decrease stress, anxiety, depression, and
atigue; promote improved academic and work per-
ormance; lower blood pressure; and acilitate health
improvements in numerous clinical disorders.
Intervention Studies
Benecial psychological and health outcomes
associated with the use o positive emotion-ocused
techniques and heart rhythm coherence eedback
training have been demonstrated across diverse
populations in both laboratory and eld studies.70
Collectively, these results suggest that techniques
which oster eelings o appreciation and increase
physiological coherence are eective in producing
sustained improvements in many aspects o psycho-
logical and physical health and in general well-beingand perormance. Further, results indicate that such
techniques are easily learned, have a high rate o
compliance, and are highly adaptable to a wide range
o demographic groups.
Health-related outcomesThe human body has an inherent capacity or
sel-healing and regeneration. However, lies hectic
pace coupled with requent inecient mental and
emotional activity can compromise the systems
natural regenerative processes. The energy drains
produced by unmanaged emotions burden the sys-
tem, placing added stress on the entire body, and
can contribute to conditions such as atigue, burn-
out, and increased susceptibility to both inectious
and chronic disease.71-74 The health implications are
substantial, as there is now abundant evidence that
the depletion o emotional energy plays a major and
largely unrecognized role in both the genesis and
aggravation o many health problems.75-79
By ostering a state o psychophysiological co-
herence, positive emotion-ocused techniques help
individuals create an internal environment that is
conducive to both physical and emotional regenera-
tion. We suggest that such techniques are eective in
helping to build back energythat has been depleted
by persistent mental processing or negative emo-
tional arousal, thereby enhancing health and healing.
A number o research studies provide support or
this hypothesis, documenting both short-term and
long-term health benets associated with the use o
positive emotion-ocused techniques.
For example, studies have shown that practice
o the Heart Lock-In or Freeze-Frame technique with
a ocus on appreciation, care, or compassion results
in a signicant increase in levels o secretory IgA, the
predominant antibody class ound in mucosal secre-
tions that serves as the bodys rst line o deense
against pathogens.67, 80 Other research has docu-
mented signicant avorable changes in hormonal
balance with regular practice o Heart Lock-In and
Cut-Thru (an emotional restructuring technique)59
over a period o 30 days. In a study o 30 subjects,
a 23% reduction in cortisol and a 100% increase in
DHEA were measured ater one month o practic-
ing the tools. Increases in DHEA were signicantly
correlated to increases in the aective construct o
Warmheartedness (represented by kindness, appre-ciation, tolerance, and compassion), while decreases
in cortisol were signicantly correlated to decreases
in Stress.23
Improvements in clinical status, emotional
well-being, and quality o lie have also been dem-
onstrated in various medical patient populations in
intervention programs using positive emotion reo-
cusing and emotional restructuring approaches. For
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example, signicant blood pressure reductions have
been demonstrated in individuals with hypertension;81
improved unctional capacity and reduced depression
in congestive heart ailure patients;82 and improved
psychological health and quality o lie in patients
with diabetes.83 Another study reported reductions
in pathological symptoms and anxiety and signicant
improvements in positive aect, physical vitality, and
general well-being in individuals with HIV inection
and AIDS.84
Additionally, patient case history data provided
by numerous health care proessionals report sub-
stantial improvements in health and psychological
status and requent reductions in medication require-
ments in patients with such medical conditions as
cardiac arrhythmias, chronic atigue, environmental
sensitivity, bromyalgia, and chronic pain.85 Finally,
positive emotion-ocused techniques and heart
rhythm eedback have been used with great success
by mental health proessionals in the treatment o
emotional disorders, including anxiety, depression,
panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.85
Many therapists ind that emotional restructur-
ing techniques are an eective means to achieve
therapeutic release without retraumatization and
requently shorten treatment time.
Organizational outcomesWe have examined the impact o positiveemotion-ocused interventions and heart rhythm
eedback training in a diverse range o organizational
settings, including high-tech companies, government
agencies, global oil companies, hospitals, and law en-
orcement agencies. Collectively, this research shows
that interventions that ocus on increasing positive
emotions can indeed be eectively implemented
in a wide variety o workplace settings, yielding
measurable improvements in both employee health
and well-being and in organizational perormance.
Organizationally relevant outcomes documented
include increases in productivity, goal clarity, job
satisaction, communication eectiveness, and
reductions in employee turnover.70, 81, 86-88 Positive
emotion-ocused intervention programs have also
been used in helping organizations eectively meet
the demands o specic challenges, such as downsiz-
ing and restructuring initiatives.
Educational outcomesPrograms incorporating HeartMath tools and
techniques, introduced at the elementary, middle
school, high school, and college levels, have been
demonstrated to improve emotional well-being,
classroom behaviors, learning, and academic peror-mance.70, 89 In one study, 32 at-risk middle school stu-
dents exhibited signicant improvements in nearly all
areas o psychosocial unctioning assessed, including
stress and anger management, risky behavior, work
management and ocus, and relationships with teach-
ers, amily and peers. Furthermore, students were
able to use the Freeze-Frame technique to quickly
recover rom acute emotional stress and positively
modulate their autonomic response to stress in real
time, thus demonstrating increased physiological
stress resiliency in relation to a control group.26
Another study examined the impact o Heart-
Math tools and technology on reducing test-taking
anxiety and improving test scores in high school
seniors. Students who had ailed their state-required
exit exams and who needed to retake the tests in
order to graduate rom high school participated
in a three-week intensive program. The course in-
cluded instruction in the Freeze-Frame and Heart
Lock-In techniques, with an emphasis on reducing
test-related anxiety and instilling greater emotional
stability and sel-condence. Students also received
heart rhythm eedback training to help them learn
how to sel-generate physiological coherence. Ater
the program, the trained students demonstrated
improvements in test scores and passing rates that
represented one to two years growth in academic
skills and greatly exceeded those achieved through
standard academic preparation alone. As compared
to a control group, the trained students also demon-
strated signicant reductions in hostility, depression,
interpersonal sensitivity, somatization, and other key
indices o psychological distress.90
In a study evaluating a program designed to
decrease anger, improve psychosocial well-being, and
engender orgiveness, Stanord University students
were taught the Freeze-Frame and Heart Lock-In
techniques in six weekly one-hour sessions. Par-
ticipants were assessed by psychological sel-report
measures and their response to a vignette at base-
line, at the completion o the training, and again ten
weeks later. The students who received the training
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demonstrated signicant reductions in both trait and
reactive anger as well as interpersonal hurt, and were
more willing to use orgiveness as a problem-solving
strategy as compared to the control group. Among
the study group, there were also signicant increases
in hopeulness, sel-ecacy towards managing emo-
tion and interpersonal hurt, and measures assessing
personal growth, compassion, spiritual issues, and
quality o lie. These results suggest that programs
that oster appreciation can be eective in modiy-
ing psychosocial traits and acilitating the release o
negative emotions accumulated rom past hurts in a
relatively brie period o time.91
Summary and Conclusion
Recent years have seen the emergence o a
growing body o data linking positive emotions tothe enhancement o human unctioning. Collectively,
these ndings are beginning to substantiate what
many people have long intuitively knownthat
positive emotions not only eel good at the subjec-
tive level, but also bolster ones ability to meet lies
challenges with grace and ease, optimize cognitive
capacities, sustain constructive and meaningul
relationships with others, and oster good health.
The research ndings discussed in this paper add to
this body o data by identiying and characterizing a
distinct mode o physiological unctioning that is as-sociated with the eeling o appreciation. This mode,
which we have termed physiological coherence, en-
compasses a number o related phenomena, including
entrainment, synchronization, and resonance, all
o which emerge rom the ecient and harmonious
interactions o the bodys subsystems. We propose
that coherent mode may provide a potential physi-
ological link between positive emotions and a range o
avorable health-related, cognitive, and psychosocial
outcomes documented by an increasing number o
research studies.
The model o emotion discussed in this paper
suggests that the brain unctions as a complex pat-
tern identication and matching system, and high-
lights the role o aerent bodily input in establishing
the amiliar reerence patterns that are critical in
ultimately determining emotional experience. As a
principal and consistent source o rhythmic inorma-
tion patterns that impact the physiological, cognitive,
and emotional systems, the heart plays a particularly
important role in the generation and perception o
emotion.
We have demonstrated that emotions are re-
fected in the hearts rhythms, and that by initiating
a change in heart rhythm patterns, it is oten pos-
sible to bring about rapid and signicant changesin perception and emotional experience. Positive
emotion-ocused techniques that couple a shit in the
hearts rhythmic patterns with the intentional sel-
induction o a heartelt eeling o appreciation have
been shown to be eective means to reduce stress and
negative emotions in the moment and instill more
positive perceptions, emotions, and behaviors. Fur-
thermore, as individuals learn to increasingly sustain
positive emotions and physiological coherence with
consistent practice o such techniques, we suggest
that a repatterning process occurs whereby increased
physiological eciency, mental acuity, and emotional
stability are established as a new, amiliar baseline
or norm. The establishment o a new reerence pat-
tern enables individuals increasingly to override
maladaptive perceptual, emotional, and behavioral
patterns accumulated through past experience and
to cultivate more positive emotions, attitudes, and
behaviors in daily lie.
Positive emotion-ocused techniques are easy
to learn and use, and appear to be highly generalizable
among individuals o diverse cultures, age groups,
socioeconomic status, and spiritual persuasions.
Studies conducted in laboratory, organizational,
clinical, and educational settings have demonstrated
both real-time and long-term improvements in emo-
tional well-being, perormance, and health-related
measures with use o these techniques. Such ap-
proaches have also been used eectively by mental
health proessionals in the treatment o individuals
with various aective disorders.
We have argued that or most people, the range
o genuine positive emotional experience is limited
by the automaticity o historical patterns that otenoperate at a level below conscious awareness to color
perception, eelings, and behavior. It thus requires
conscious choice and commitment to begin to rec-
ognize and gradually replace these maladaptive pat-
terns with ones that are more appropriate, ecient,
and conducive to well-being. However, because
most people are not trained in emotional manage-
ment skills, in practice, the experience o positive
emotions remains largely dependent upon external
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events and circumstances, rather than being within
ones own conscious control. Heart-based positive
emotion-ocused techniques thereore oer people a
simple and eective means to consciously intervene
to progressively bring more quality o emotional ex-
perience to their eeling world. It is our experience
that this process not only signicantly reduces ones
experience o stress, but can also lead to enduring
positive changes in ones attitudes, relationships,
world view, and sense o sel.
As increasing emphasis is placed on learning to
enrich the emotional aspects o our experience, we
anticipate that positive emotion-ocused techniques
and intervention programs will be increasingly
integrated in clinical, workplace, and academic set-
tings or the enhancement o health, well-being, and
perormance. It is our hope that such interventions
will help people to develop greater awareness and
understanding o their emotional responses, both
conscious and subconscious; to progressively learn
to direct these responses in ways that benet their
health and well-being; and ultimately to take on a
more proactive role in the orchestration o their
own ulllment.
HeartMath, Freeze-Frame, Heart Lock-In, and Cut-Thru are registeredtrademarks of the Institute of HeartMath. Freeze-Framer is a registeredtrademark of Quantum Intech, Inc.
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